A place for couples dealing with illness to find resources and advice, hear stories, and discover support. Whether the illness is chronic or acute, the result of disease or accident, couples can learn strategies for coping with the changes illness brings into our relationships and our worlds.
The information provided in this blog is for educational and support purposes only. It should not be used as a substitute for seeking professional care.

Friday, July 4, 2008

July Fourth

I remember the first July fourth after I started have chronic pain. Like every other day for that terrible year, I lay curled up in a bean bag chair in our attic bedroom trying every trick I knew to meditate myself into oblivion. In the period b.p. (before pain) July fourth meant a bar-b-cue on Mark's front deck with the best chicken wings and cold beer. Around 7:00pm we'd wander down to the river to stake our place for the fireworks show. a.p. (after pain), July fourth was just another damn holiday when I couldn't get in touch with my doctor, nurse, physician's assistant, acupuncturist, chiropractor, homeopath, or physical therapist.

It's been several years since I last lay in that bean bag. Today, Richard and I are going to a new bar-b-cue on a deck overlooking the bay where we'll eat shrimp, drink Merlot, and watch fireworks from a distance.

July fourth is now just another day to be with my sweetie and friends. It doesn't get much better.

2 comments:

I just started a blog and I am trying to connect with others who share my problems. I am new to the chronic pain life and am trying to make the best of it. My blog starts out with my story, but will eventually get into how living with pain involves so very much. Please visit my blog and let me know what you think.http://ergowrite.blogspot.com/

Available at Amazon and local bookstores Click on Book to Learn More

About Me

In November, 1999 I was whacked with a mysterious chronic pain syndrome that took me out of my life. With the help of my husband, my dog, and a combination of western and alternative approaches, I have a new life that includes working, writing, mountain climbing, smiling, and managing pain. I learned a lot along the way, especially about illness and the couple relationship. I'm also a psychotherapist, a business consultant, and have written a book about couples and illness, which was published in March 2013 (Roundtree Press)

“Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”Susan Sontag